philips

Last week Unilever announced research showing that one-third of consumers now purchase its brands based on their good social and environmental performance, but went on to suggest that brands are missing an opportunity from not promoting sustainability effectively. Getting this right could unlock a further $1trn market opportunity for sustainability innovators.

“Open Innovation and technology scouting are vital for us to stay ahead of competition and identify cutting edge technologies that will allow us to propose the best products to our consumers”. In this interview, Steven Vaassen, Open Innovation Leader at Philips Consumer Lifestyle, shares his view on OI and how Philips is organized to decide when and how to use Open Innovation.

Philips, one of the biggest old-line companies in Europe, has struggled to become more customer-centric. Recently, its adoption of open innovation strategies has injected new zest into the giant consumer products company. In this article, Haydn Shaughnessy interviews Katja Van Der Wal and Alberto Prado who, respectively, head up consumer lifestyle innovation and high impact innovation, about the company’s recent successes.